Kelly latest to test Dakar waters

The 31-year-old will be the fourth Motswana rider, after Vincent Crosbie, Ross Branch and James Alexander, who made his debut this year. Kelly went on the saddle for the first time as a seven-year-old but made his competitive debut as a 16-year-old at the 1,000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR) or ‘Mantshwabisi’ as it is popularly called.

In his early days in competitive racing, Kelly divided his time between the bike and school commitments. It was only in 2017 that he won his title in the Botswana Motor Sport (BMS) national championship before finishing sixth at the Roof of Africa in Lesotho. A year later, he won the BMS division of the TDR whilst he was third at the Kalahari Rally in 2019. It was at the 2019 Kalahari Rally where Kelly tasted rally racing and he said he is ready to take it a gear higher having five TDR races under his belt.